Isami Kondo
Kondō Isami '(近藤 勇 ''Kondō Isami) is the commander of the Shinsengumi whom everyone looks up to and admires. He also raised Okita Souji from when Souji was 9 years old and is like a father to him. Kondou is very close friends with Toshizo Hijikata and often looks to him for his opinion on important matters. His character is historically based. Personality Kondou is an passionate, hard-working & very kind individual, although Hijikata has warned him about being too naive at times, Kondou is extremely trusting of others & always gives them the benefit of the doubt, believing that there is good in everyone. Despite all of his seemingly "weak" qualities, Kondou is incredibly strong mentally & physically. His favorite book has always been The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and he has read it so many times that he almost has it remembered perfectly by heart. His love for the book was inspired by his childhood membories of his father often making mention to stories in the book. Kondou's role model is a character in the book, and so he lives out his dream of becoming a samurai fighting for truth and protecting the weak. '''Season 1 Kondou is first seen in the meeting room when Gen brings in Chizuru to be questioned. Kondou inhabitually starts introducing everyone to her, until Hijikata stopped him say how it wasn't necessary seeing as "He" was a prisoner. The Ikedaya Incident thanks to the hard work of Yamazaki & Shimada, The Shinsengumi managed to find out about an important Choushu meeting that was taking place right under their noses. The location of the meeting, however, was unknown. Kondou & Hijikata decided to split up into two groups, Hijikata took 20 men including Harada & Saitou, leaving Kondou with only 10 men plus Souji, Heisuke, Chizuru & Shinpachi. Hijikata's group went to Shikoku Inn While Kondou's Group headed to the Ikedaya Inn. Later on, after the assassination of Itou, Kondou is mortally wounded in a revenge assassination attempt While returning from a meeting with the Shogun. This leaves everyone angry & worried for Kondou's sake, Souji becomes particularly angry & blames himself for Kondou's injury because he was too weak from his TB to go with him, which causes Souji to drink ochimizu in order to take revenge for Kondou. Souji acomplishes his revenge, but at the cost of being shot also, but with silver bullets. 'Season 2' Through lies & promises of the shogun, Kondou now wants to become a daimyo. His hunger for social status leads to lose sight of his goals for the Shinsengumi, leading to mass bloodshed during their first battle after fleeing to Edo at a castle the Aizu said they would Give to Kondou if he could reclaim it from the choushu, which, in the end, turned out to be nothing more than an attempt to extinguish the Shinsengumi for the shogun's political plans. All the same, This power thirst disturbs Shinpachi and takes leave the Shinsengumi, taking Sanosuke with him. Later on, Kondou realizes what he did, and racked with guilt, sacrifices himself to the choushu, so that Hijikata and Chizuru can escape from Aizu, where they were cornered by enemies. His sacrifice angers and saddens Hijikata so much that Hijikata nearly cried and caused him to actually destroy an entire troop of enemy soldiers out of anger. Although Hijikata persistently begged for the enemy to spare Kondou, they have had no contact from him after he sacrificed himself to the other side. It's implied that he was executed, by beheading... 'Hakuouki SSL' In SSL, Kondou is the head principal of Hakuouki academy & is also the coach for the kendo club, although he seems to take his kendo training a bit too seriously as he will sometimes practice in the halls, much to Vice-principal Hijikata's disapproval. Trivia *Kondou has bragged that he can fit his entire fist in his mouth. *In real life, Kondou had a wife & daughter back at his home in Hino, they were mentioned in the game, but not in the anime. *Kondou has theme music in the anime. *Much like Hijikata & Souji, Kondou was the youngest in his family of two older brothers & lost his mother at a young age. *In real life, Kondou was executed for the murder of Ryōma Sakamoto *Favorite book: Romance of the Three Kingdoms Category:Characters Category:Main Category:Shinsengumi Category:Male